Memories
by tatterdemalion
Summary: A short drabble on the smells, sounds, and sights that affect the members of the Host Club.


This was a spur of the moment thing on different smells, sounds or sights that affect the members of the Host Club (except for Haruhi, 'cause I didn't feel like writing about her today). One-sided pairings…spoilers if you haven't read the manga volumes 1-8. The scenarios are based on events from the manga so if you've only watched the anime some things may be different (i.e. the window falling on Kaoru instead of the flowerpot falling on Kaoru, etc…)

Uh…enjoy! R&R, please.

DISCLAIMER: Uhh…I WISH I was Bisco Hatori. There would be a few…pairings I would like to put in…

MORINOZUKA TAKASHI

Takashi hated the smell of antiseptic. When Mitsukuni had returned from the dentist after discovering his cavity, the smell had lingered on his clothes and skin and just the hint was enough to drive Takashi into throes of guilt. Even now, almost a year later, whenever the smell came up, Takashi would feel twinges of guilt. His heart had broken when Mitsukuni had looked at him with those eyes and begged him for sweets. The only thing that made him feel better was Mitsukuni throwing him to the floor after a temper tantrum. Because if Mitsukuni was not happy, then Takashi had no right to be happy as well.

HITACHIIN HIKARU

Hikaru couldn't look at watermelons. It reminded him of Arai and that reminded him of how, in one single afternoon, Haruhi was smiling more at a middle school classmate, then she had at Hikaru. And that damn Arai, always cheerful and nonchalant, had brought a watermelon as a peace offering, right after Hikaru had found Haruhi under that altar in the church. Hikaru had accepted of course; he had smiled and enjoyed himself and sometimes thought he had even fooled his own twin. But the resentment he felt towards the guy had lingered even after they had departed back to Ouran. Haruhi didn't seem like she had contacted him again, and Hikaru was maliciously pleased, because he wanted to be the only one that Haruhi smiled at.

SUOU TAMAKI

The feel of saltwater against his skin always caused Tamaki to shiver, because it brought back memories of diving deep down, clasping at a slender hand as he pulled Haruhi back up from the water. He remembered being so angry at her for causing the feeling of emptiness that had clutched at his chest as he had watched her plummet to the waters below. When she had not seen it his way, he had gotten even angrier. Why wasn't she more concerned about her…or other people? Hani-senpai had cried when he learned that Haruhi had fallen into the ocean. Hikaru and Kaoru had immediately rushed to pummel the creeps who did it. Kyouya, stoic as usual, had hesitated slightly before breaking the twins up. Mori-senpai had stopped responding even to Hani-senpai before Haruhi was dragged from the depths. Tamaki had wanted Haruhi to depend on him, to be feminine and scream when she saw a bug and cling to him when they entered a dark cave, because Tamaki would have been more then happy to hold her like he did when the thunder crashed around them and tell her that it was all right.

OOTORI KYOUYA

Sitting with his feet under a kotatsu gave Kyouya the feeling of helplessness. All his life, he had been able to read people, to know what they were thinking by body language and facial expression and immediately respond. But the one person who had baffled Kyouya was Tamaki Suou. Tamaki acted like an idiot, an idiot who danced around talking of commoner things and families with a kotatsu. Kyouya, when he had met him, had believed that he was one-dimensional, a fool in every aspect. He thought it would be so easy to trick him, to continue being his friend for the sake of his father's business relationship. But when Tamaki had started surprising him with thoughtful words and selfless acts, Kyouya had been thrown, irritated that he couldn't read Tamaki like a book, like he had been able to do to so many people. Tamaki knew about the iciness that lay behind Kyouya's neutral, dangerously cool mask, knew about the ulterior motives and cunning plots, but still had persisted, wriggled his way underneath the guard Kyouya had set up and had eventually pulled him into the plot of the Host Club. The fact that he could do this to Kyouya worried him. A lot.

HANINOZUKA MITSUKUNI

The glint of glasses made a shiver of fear run through Mitsukuni's veins. Mitsukuni considered himself an expert of reading people's feelings if he could look at their eyes. Haru-chan was the best because her eyes were so big, so feminine and so open to the rest of the world. Even Kyouya who wore glasses that sometimes hid his eyes from Mitsukuni, always gave him a direct stare while talking to him so Mitsukuni could see his emotions.

Yusachika didn't wear glasses because of eyesight problems, but because he wanted the glass to blur his vision of Mitsukuni. To the bunny toting latter, the glasses represented the emotional barrier that separated the two brothers, and that made him sad. He was sad that Yusachika wanted to deny that he was his brother. He was sad that Yusachika didn't accept him for who he was. But Mitsukuni would never, never allow himself to become sad for what he had become. That was Yusachika's problem, not his.

HITACHIIN KAORU

The sound of glass breaking always made Kaoru wince. It brought him back to the pension, to the window falling from above towards Haruhi. He had posed the question before it had fallen, 'How about we sleep together, the three of us, from now on?' 'Nah. No thanks,' she had replied just as easily, which had puzzled him. How freely he and his brother could get under the skin of the customers of the host club compared to how hard it was to even fluster Haruhi had been a subject of mystery to him for a while. 'Why not?' he had persisted. 'There wouldn't be enough room,' was her answer. Not, 'it would be improper' or, 'I would be embarrassed,' but her reason was for the amount of space to be had. Kaoru felt the wall to their world breaking apart as blunt, kind, cute Haruhi elbowed her way through his defences. As the pieces of glass shattered around him, Kaoru decided not to tell Haruhi how he felt about her. Because, if she could make him feel like this when she rejected his jokes, how would he feel when he was actually serious?

FIN

Aah. It kind of looks unfinished without Haruhi there, right? Right? Am I right? Poor Haruhi. I don't think I'm like her at all, so I'm scared to write her for fear she ends up sounding like me. (THE HORROR). But I'm really tired and I just want to post this and go to bed. I have to study for midterms tomorrow. Please, R&R! Goodnight!


End file.
